We Are of God

1 John 4:4-6

 

Not everyone tells the truth.

 

I know, shocker isn’t it.

 

Let's look at 2 Peter together to see how it describes false teachers.

2 Peter 2:1-3 (NKJV) 1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, [and] bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

 

2 Peter 2:18-19 (NKJV) 18 For when they speak great swelling [words] of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.

 

Let’s take a closer look at 2 Peter 2. It clearly shows us that false teachers are a certainty. Their teachings are harmful, tarnishing the reputation of the truth. These false teachers pursue their own interests—seeking recognition, wealth, or power—and disguise their foolishness with seemingly wise words. They draw people in by exploiting the desires of the flesh.

 

1 John 4:1-2 commands us to rigorously test the spirits to confirm if they are of God. The spirits to be tested are teachers and their teachings. You must evaluate everything I teach against the Scriptures, just as you should with all teaching. 1 John 4:1-2 says:

1 John 4:1-2 (NKJV) 1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,

 

“Many false prophets have gone out into the world.”  False prophets are unquestionably empowered and guided by Satan, the prince and power of the air.

Ephesians 2:2 (NKJV) in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

 

The whole world lies in the power of the evil one. The spirit of antichrist that is at work in the world is the same spirit that deceived Eve in the Garden and worked to see that Jesus was crucified.

 

This spirit of antichrist will continue to work in our world until our Lord Jesus returns. He works using tactics that he has used since the beginning.

 

One of the ways he works is by blurring the line between earthly wisdom and the word of God. Let me show you an example.

 

When God promised the land to Israel, it was the land of the Canaanites. The Canaanites worshipped false gods. These gods were called “Baal” (or Baals). Chief among these gods was Molech. (The Hebrew word for king is “Melek.” The Hebrew word for shame is “bosheth.” The Israelites combined the words to make the “king” of the gods’ name sound like “shame,” thus “melek” became “Molech.”) Once Israel moved into the land, it did not take long for Canaanite practices to permeate the lives of the Israelites. Look with me at 2 Chronicles 28:1-4.

2 Chronicles 28:1-4 (NKJV) 1 Ahaz [was] twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do [what was] right in the sight of the LORD, as his father David [had done.] 2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made molded images for the Baals. 3 He burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

 

David loved the Lord. He was not perfect, but He was wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord. That is what God asked of His people then and what He asks of us today. But we see that Ahaz did not do this. Do you notice that he molded images for the Baals, burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom (Gehenna), and burned his children in the fire?

 

Hinnom was a Canaanite (Jebusite) who lived in the land long before Israel arrived. His name became attached to this particular valley, and the valley then became associated with the practice of Canaanite religion, particularly child sacrifice. The Canaanite “Baals” were gods, and “Moleck” was the king of the gods. The Hebrews then said, “They are worshipping the same God we are, but they are representing Him in a different way.” This mirrors the act of the Children of Israel in the wilderness, when they worshipped the Golden Calf that Aaron made. The King of the Egyptian gods was a bull, so the Israelites said, “He is the same God we worship; they just represent Him differently. But what they did was wrong, and God did not let it go.

 

God disciplines the child that He loves, and He disciplined Israel, and these Canaanite religious practices are the reason. Let’s look at what the Lord said through Jeremiah the prophet. Jeremaih 7:30-31:

Jeremiah 7:30-31 (NKJV) 30 “For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,” says the LORD. “They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to pollute it. 31 “And they have built the high places of Tophet, which [is] in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.

 

The abominations that were set up in the temple (“the house which is called by my name”) resulted from the blending of Canaanite beliefs with Scriptural teachings. The result was an extremely destructive perversion of the truth. God dealt with this perversion by taking His people completely out of the land for generations. (These practices were why God removed the Canaanites in the first place.) Notice Jeremiah 7:31. It says, “…to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.” They mixed the Caanantie religion with what they knew about God, and suddenly, they were sacrificing their children. But didn’t God tell Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? Weren’t they following what God had done with Abraham? This thinking is why God says, “I did not command it, nor did it come into my heart.”

 

Now jump forward to 1 John. 1 John was written about 820 to 830 years after Ahaz burnt incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. John was writing to stop the spread of Gnosticism. 

 

Historically, Gnostics used Christian terms — Christ, Spirit, salvation — but filled them with different meanings. Christ became a revealer of hidden knowledge rather than the incarnate Redeemer who atones for sin. Many and complicated teachings were involved; however, for our purposes today, it will be sufficient to say that these teachings grew out of aligning the Christian faith with the thinking of the day. Four different schools of thought were brought into alignment. 

• Greek philosophical dualism (Plato)

• Mystery religion initiation concepts (Isis)

• Jewish apocalyptic speculation

• Christian terminology (Capitalizing on the attractiveness of the truth)

 

Gnosticism did not precede Christianity, but it emerged early as clever men synthesized various philosophies and presented them as truth.

 

This is what continues to happen as the spirit of antichrist works in the world.

 

We must be careful here. Our thinking and teaching are, in many ways, influenced by modern science and contemporary thought. This is unavoidable. But modern science is not inherently false. Much truth can be learned from what God has made.

 

He has given us intelligence and the ability to observe, so that we may continue to grow in our understanding of the universe in which we live. Nuclear power, airplanes, spacecraft, satellites, and even the devices we carry every day all testify to our increasing knowledge and understanding.

 

But as helpful as these things are, they must never become the lens through which we reinterpret the Word of God.

 

With modern technology, we can observe life forming within the womb. We can examine the molecular structure of the ovum and the sperm. We can analyze DNA to identify physical traits and even determine whether a child is male or female.

 

But does any of this diminish the miracle of life? Does our growing knowledge of biological processes lessen—or in any way change—the value of a human life?

 

The answer is no. Science cannot answer moral or spiritual questions. 1 John teaches us an important distinction when it says:

1 John 4:4-6 (NKJV) 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak [as] of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

 

For the child of God who listens to the Word of God, the truth is clear. 1 Corinthians 1 says:

1 Corinthians 1:18 (NKJV) For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

 

And then in 1 Corinthians 2, it says:

1 Corinthians 2:4-6 (NKJV) 4 And my speech and my preaching [were] not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

 

Our faith does not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. We must not try to make the truth more acceptable to the world around us. Rather, we must build our faith on the firm foundation of God’s Word.

 

As 2 Timothy 3:16 reminds us:

2 Timothy 3:16 (NKJV) All Scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

 

We must build our faith on the Word of God. Though we have split the atom, nothing we have discovered has given us any reason to doubt or question the Word of God.

 

Consider the precision of the universe—the fine-tuning of physical laws, the complexity of life, the order we observe at every level of creation. These do not point away from God, but toward Him. In fact, the more we learn about the universe and how it works, the more reason we have to trust the truth of God’s Word.

 

The truth that we should not take innocent human life—because human beings are created in the image of God—is only reinforced by what we have learned through biology and molecular science. The complexity and uniqueness of human life do not diminish our understanding of Scripture; they deepen it.

 

What we must never do, however, is reshape the Word of God to fit new knowledge or clever interpretations. God does not change, and neither does His truth.

 

How is it that in our day it has become okay to ordain the homosexual or transgender? How can some people teach that “Allah” and “God” are the same, or that the “Great Spirit” is another name for God? 

 

We must test the spirits to see whether they are of God. What does Islam say about Jesus? What do the worshippers of the “Great Spirit” say about Jesus?

 

Teachings that distort the truth of Scripture should be confronted. But when we encounter people, we must remember they are made in God’s image and are deserving of our respect and love.

 

Love is not based on what a person believes or even what they do. We are commanded to love—even our enemies. Loving someone does not mean we agree with their beliefs, teachings, or behavior.

 

To love someone is to genuinely care for their well-being, and at times, that will require disagreement. Love also listens. It takes time to understand what another person is saying. Understanding and agreeing are not the same thing.

 

If we are so uncertain of our beliefs that we cannot listen to those who differ from us, then we need to spend more time in the Word of God.

 

Here is how to strengthen your faith. God tells us in Romans 10:17:

Romans 10:17 (NKJV) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

 

We cannot correct others without the Word of God. But 2 Timothy 3:16 says:

2 Timothy 3:16 (NKJV) All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,